As I'm sure you know, 2020 robbed us of new theatrical releases for several months. This was especially annoying for me as I, despite visiting the cinema nine times this year before lockdown began, only saw one actual 2020 film, Pixar's Onward. While in lockdown, despite being content with working my way through my extensive watchlist of existing films, I was still craving some new material. Fortunately, I was able to watch eight new releases in this time. Unfortunately, they were quite a weak bunch. To put it into perspective, Onward was the only 2020 film I'd seen before lockdown, and it was a movie I thought was just pretty good. But, somehow, none of these films were better. So, with some new theatrical 2020 releases finally arriving soon, here's every digital 2020 release I've seen ranked.
8. Trolls World Tour
I was never too big a fan of the original Trolls movie. I remember thinking it was okay when I first saw it, but never revisited it. So, I didn't have too high hopes for this sequel. The animation was fairly creative, some of the characters were cute, and the overall message, while on the nose, was nice. But the movie as a whole was just extremely obnoxious. Most of the characters were irritating, almost all the songs are too noisy and overly flashy, and while it wasn't necessarily dull, it was quite a tiring watch. I don't know what has happened to Dreamworks lately. When I was growing up back in the 2000s, they consistently made many great movies, so I don't know if they've dropped the ball or if I've just grown out of their stuff. But, then again, I rewatched Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda during lockdown, and I still really like those movies, so I think this studio ought to up the ante from these lowest-common-denominator appealing kids movies that I don't think will please anyone above the age of ten - 4.5/10
7. The Old Guard
I would do a fair-sized writeup about my thoughts on this movie, but I have such a hard time remembering almost anything about it, and I only watched it a month ago! The Old Guard was so boring, it is a waste of such an intriguing premise. It could've been an awesome journey over many centuries, following this team of immortal guardians and their struggle to constantly protect the earth, allowing for many interesting settings to be explored and tons of varied action scenes. But, instead, it's a bland, wannabe John Wick, modern day action movie that I will allow myself to forget after writing this sentence - 5.5/10
6. Project Power
I only watched this a few days ago, and I can hardly recall much about it as well. Project Power is only slightly better than The Old Guard for me because it doesn't feel like the premise here is being wasted, even if it also isn't being fully utilised. There were also some cool visuals in amongst all the bland character interaction, but the best part about this movie for me was Joseph Gordon-Levitt. This guy is such a great actor yet I've barely seen him in anything since 2015's The Walk, so it was a nice surprise to see him still about here. Aside from that, I don't think I'll bother thinking about this either after finishing this sentence. I actually feel a lot more sour towards bland movies than bad ones, because they leave so little an impact on you that any value there is feels worthless - 5.5/10
5. Extraction
The best of the forgettable, 2020, Netflix, action movies trilogy, but that isn't saying much, if anything. Extraction is nothing special, but the action I came for was pretty decent. Chris Hemsworth is such a likeable lead and he punches his way through this movie pretty well. There's one unbroken tracking shot in the middle of the movie that felt like it went on for 10 minutes or so, and it was really awesome and, best of all, memorable. That scene alone was better than the last two movies combined. But, as I said, there is very little aside from the action to grasp onto here. It's just a solid, competently made flick, and I'll happily take that any day for the rest of this year at least - 6.0/10
4. The Gentlemen
Okay, this one is kind of a cheat. This was a theatrical release, but as its a 2020 release, and because I watched it around the time as all these other movies, I thought it'd fit just fine in this list. It also fits well on this list because it's the exact same, quality-wise. Despite having some really fun performances from Hugh Grant, Matthew McConaughey and Colin Farrell in particular, the storytelling was just all over the place. While I did enjoy myself in parts, the overall flow of the narrative felt so disjointed and messy that I had a hard time following along, which hindered my enjoyment elsewhere. This movie may get better upon rewatching, but as it is, I didn't have such a good time - 6.5/10
3. Greyhound
The rest of the movies on this list are ones I actually liked, to some extent. Greyhound is a fine, but largely flawed movie. As a war film, it never dedicated itself to a particular aspect to focus on. With films like this, the focus should either be on the story and characters, like in Saving Private Ryan, or the filmmaking, like in Dunkirk or 1917. Here, it doesn't develop the characters enough for the audience to feel tension for them, and the filmmaking isn't interesting or effective enough the put the audience in the right atmosphere. As a result, moments specifically designed for an emotional response felt empty, and the action felt repetitive with the endless shots of waves crashing onto the decks and men shouting navy jargon. Ultimately, the main saving grace was Tom Hanks, who is extremely watchable and charismatic in anything. In the end, Greyhound gets the job done just fine, even if it isn't that remarkable. It's easy to see why this was dumped onto streaming and didn't wait for cinemas to reopen, as it is basically a throwaway war movie - 6.5/10
2. Da 5 Bloods
I enjoyed this movie quite a bit. The acting from all the leads was terrific, and the cinematography was very inventive with how it played around with aspect ratios when going back and forth with points in time. My usual issue with pacing was very evident here, as it was quite a long watch and didn't strike me as something I'd frequently come back to. But, while it was on, even if I didn't enjoy it to the fullest, I respected it for the story it told and the way it was brought to life. This is probably the best film on this list, but the one above is something I just enjoyed a whole lot more. Also, while I'm here and discussing this film, I'd just like to address the unfortunate passing of Chadwick Boseman. Such a charismatic, bold, and talented figure, and someone who will be greatly missed. May he rest in peace - 7.0/10
1. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of the Fire Saga
According the Letterboxd, this is the second worst film on this list on average. But dammit, I enjoyed this movie so very much. I'm not going to act like it's anything amazing, because it follows a very cliché and tired formula for the most part, but it succeeds so well for what it is. Eurovision is a song contest that, from my perspective, is built on the idea of just spreading joy and being good fun, and this movie encapsulated that philosophy perfectly. Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams are both really funny as the two leads, and they massively help make this film the good time that it is. Additionally, I quite liked some of the songs, as they did feel very Eurovision-esque. I can imagine most people didn't like this movie because they just thought it was a lazy comedy, but if like me you're familiar with Eurovision and the fun you get from it, you'll probably like this too - 7.5/10
So yeah, not a particularly strong bunch, but that doesn't matter anymore. The cinemas are back and big, new releases are on the way, assuming nothing goes awry in the next few months. Obviously, Tenet is the most anticipated at the moment, but I'm also really looking forward to The King's Man, Black Widow, The French Dispatch, No Time to Die, and Dune. Let's hope they all see the light of day soon and aren't shoved back even further!
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